This is part of an ongoing series covering various college realignment news for all three NCAA Divisions as well as the NAIA. The roundup below will cover news and reports since November 15, 2025, and provide updates on previously discussed topics. As a reminder, all official moves starting with the 2025-26 academic year can be found here and those starting in 2026-27 are here. We’ll break out the reports for each Division in the following order: Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, and NAIA. Clicking the links will bring you to the corresponding section.
| School(s)/Conference | News Item |
|---|---|
| American Southwest Conference | Will Sponsor Women’s Beach Volleyball |
| Atlantic 10 Conference | Commissioner Retiring |
| Big 12 Conference | Taking Staking in Players Era Tournament |
| MAAC | Looking to Rebrand |
| McGill University (Canada) | Cutting 25 Sports Teams |
| Menlo College | Joining NCAA D2 CCAA |
| Simon Fraser | Planning to leave NCAA and Join U Sports |
| South Atlantic Conference | Will Stop Sponsoring Men’s and Women’s Swimming |
| Southeast Missouri State | Staying in OVC |
NCAA Division 1 News
Atlantic 10 Commissioner Retiring
The Atlantic 10 Conference‘s Bernadette McGlade will retire at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. McGlade has been the A-10’s commissioner since 2008 and has seen five full members leave the conference. In 2013, Butler, Charlotte, Temple, and Xavier left for the new pastures in the American, Big East, and C-USA. In 2025, Massachusetts left the A-10 to join the MAC. Joining the A-10 in McGlade’s tenure were VCU (2012), George Mason (2013), Davidson (2014), and Loyola Chicago (2022). The conference does have an extensive geographic membership with full members located in Illinois, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
Big 12 Gets Stake in Player Era’s Tournament
The Big 12 Conference acquired a 15% stake in the Players Era Festival as part of a five-year deal. The agreement will ensure that the top 8 teams in the men’s basketball standings participate in the following season’s Players Era tournament. The men’s championship will expand to 32 teams beginning with the 2026-27 event, which gives the Big 12 a quarter of the field. The Big 12 is also set to receive no less than $50 million per year, according to Sports Business Journal.
MAAC Looking to Rebrand
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is looking to rebrand in 2026. The conference noted the confusion between the MAC (Mid-American Conference) and the MAAC, which led to them being defined as “the other MAAC.” There is also the NCAA D3 Middle Atlantic Conference, which has the “MAC” acronym, although they’re rarely confused for either MACtion or the MAAC. The MAAC is primarily made up of northeastern universities, with full members located in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
SEMO Staying Put
Southeast Missouri State University will not be leaving the Ohio Valley Conference. The university dispelled any speculation when it publicly announced its commitment to the OVC. Following Little Rock‘s departure from the OVC to the UAC in October, there were reports that SEMO and UT Martin were likely to join them. That is no longer the case and Matt Brown reports the exit fee is now at $2 million for any OVC member who wants to leave. The OVC currently sits at 9 full members for the 2026-27 academic year.
NCAA Division 2 News
Menlo Hopping from PacWest to CCAA
Menlo College (Atherton, California) is changing NCAA D2 conferences. Menlo will leave the Pacific West Conference and join the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. The change will put the CCAA at 14 full members in 2026 as Fresno Pacific is also leaving the PacWest and joining the CCAA next year. The PacWest will fall to 10 full members in 2026, as Azusa Pacific (leaving for NCAA D3 SCIAC) joins Fresno Pacific and Menlo on the departing train. Menlo will move 9 programs of its 14 programs to the CCAA. Men’s tennis (MPSF), men’s volleyball (PacWest), men’s volleyball (MPSF), women’s tennis (PacWest), and women’s volleyball (MPSF) are not sponsored by the CCAA. The tennis programs will either need a new home or remain in the PacWest as affiliate members.
Simon Fraser’s Planning to Leave NCAA, McGill Cutting Sports
Simon Fraser University (British Columbia, Canada) is planning to leave the NCAA and return to U Sports beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The Red Leafs would leave the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and move to U Sports’ Canada West Conference. The move would leave the GNAC at 9 full members in 2027, assuming no additional changes in the next two years. Simon Fraser is the NCAA’s only Canadian member. The decision comes after an independent consultant provided the university with a report on its athletics department.
After hiring an independent consultant in September, the final report produced by McLaren Global Sport Solutions was published earlier this month. The report noted that SFU would save about $1.1 million annually by moving from the NCAA to Canada West and U Sports. However, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s softball, and both outdoor track & field programs would be eliminated by such a move. There could also be impacts on three club teams: men’s hockey, men’s lacrosse, and women’s rugby. SFU is facing a $20 million deficit for the 2025-26 academic year, which raised the spectre of leaving the NCAA. The report was also keen to suggest that Simon Fraser should not add any additional sports or bring back football.
McGill University (Montréal, Québec, Canada) announced it would cut 25 sports and clubs from its athletics portfolio beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. The decision has been met with strong criticism for how the university handled the decision, the lack of transparency, and some questioning the rationale. McGill competes in the Canadian governing body U Sports, the same one that Simon Fraser is planning to join in the future. While the timing is likely coincidental alongside SFU’s decision, it’s also another aspect Simon Fraser likely considered when looking at the NCAA’s impact on the budget.
South Atlantic Dropping Swimming
The South Atlantic Conference is discontinuing its sponsorship of men’s and women’s swimming after the 2025-26 academic year. Carson-Newman University (Jefferson City, Tennessee), Catawba College (Salisbury, North Carolina), Lenoir-Rhyne University (Hickory, North Carolina), Mars Hill University (Mars Hill, North Carolina), and Wingate University (Wingate, North Carolina) will move to the Conference Carolinas in men’s and women’s swimming beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. The Conference Carolinas will have 11 men’s teams and 12 women’s programs in 2026-27.
NCAA Division 3 News
American Southwest Conference to Sponsor Beach Volleyball
The American Southwest Conference will sponsor women’s beach volleyball beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. East Texas Baptist University (Marshall, Texas), Howard Payne University (Brownwood, Texas), Schreiner University (Kerrville, Texas), and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Belton, Texas) will compete in the inaugural season. ETBU, Howard Payne, and UMHB currently play as independents, with the possibility to compete in the AVCA Small College Beach Championships postseason. Schreiner’s first season will be in 2026-27 as a member of the ASC. The ASC teams are eligible to compete in the NCAA Championship, should they be selected as an at-large team. The ASC is the first NCAA D3 conference to sponsor women’s beach volleyball.
NAIA News
There were no major realignment news stories in the NAIA.
Photo Credit to Menlo Athletics